


all was calm, all was bright

by artemis_west



Category: Green Creek Series - T.J. Klune
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Smut, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Happy Ending, M/M, Mating, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Pack Feels, Post-Canon, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Gestures, Werewolf Courting, Werewolf Mates, Wolf Pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 10:39:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17181404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemis_west/pseuds/artemis_west
Summary: The timber wolf shifts, and his name is Damon Livingstone. Gordo's half-brother is Carter Bennett's mate, and Carter wasn't prepared for this.(Or, how Carter and his mate dance around each other for nine months until Carter admits his feelings and plans for them to finally be together on Christmas).(He forgot to light the candles).





	all was calm, all was bright

**Author's Note:**

> yall iaheriofdslknx it's been so long and honestly??? i dont love this but this is one of those fics i first wrote out in paragraphs on discord and then cleaned it up and made it into an actual fic. it took me fucking forever which his why i kind of hate it, and i fully admit it's not the quality of writing i like to hold myself to, but i wanted to finish it and post something. if you've been reading the notes in my fics you know i still have a bunch of other much longer projects im working on, but in the meantime i also have a bunch of shorter fics (like this one) that i'm trying to get done and post so i'm still active. 
> 
> i gave the timber wolf the name damon because it's a sexy name and if you disagree you're wrong
> 
> i also feel like i don't love this that much because i don't have as much of a handle on carter's character as i do on the other green creek characters, and the timber wolf/damon we obviously know nothing about so i just kinda did my best with him. but i'm posting it anyway to push myself out of my comfort zone!!
> 
> takes place after ravensong of course in a happy little bubble where i ignore most of the major details of what happened and focus only on their relationship lmao

Carter had always considered himself a fairly patient person.

That was, until he met the timberwolf. They’d been calling him Timber, for lack of a better name, because he couldn’t speak for himself. Only growl and grunt and howl. When Carter was shifted, he tried to talk to Timber in the way all the wolves communicated with each other in their four-legged forms, but there’d been no luck there. Surprising, considering that Carter seemed to be the only one in the pack Timber  _ wanted  _ to talk to. All the hovering and shadowing and stalking was goddamn annoying. Carter had put up with it for a total of three months after the attack on Green Creek by Meredith King’s - Elijah’s - army of ferals and Robert Livingstone’s witches. After three months, a sense of normalcy was returning to the Bennett pack, and their territory was almost recovered from the war and blood that had seeped into its ground. Things had been quiet, for the most part. The Bennetts knew Robert Livingstone was going to make his move eventually, and they were always waiting for it, making their own preparations in their free time. But in between, they tried to move on. They lived their lives as best they could. They adjusted to their new pack. 

Which now included a feral Omega who refused to shift. 

He wasn’t incapable. Deep down, Carter knew that Timber had the ability to call back his human form. He didn’t know  _ how _ he knew, and he didn’t like to examine it too much. But TImber just wasn’t doing it, and the not knowing why was the most frustrating part. 

Three months after Timber had attached himself to Carter, the eldest Bennett brother had had enough. 

“Hey,” Carter said to Timber on a Saturday morning, after he woke up and found Timber sleeping at the foot of his bed - a habit the wolf had formed nearly a week after he started following Carter around. Every time Carter tried to kick him out of his room, there was a growling match that always ended in a draw, or with Carter throwing his hands in the air in defeat. The pack was way too amused by it for Carter’s liking. 

The timberwolf lifted his head from where he’d been resting it on his paws, purple eyes looking intently at Carter. Carter narrowed his eyes. 

“Shift back,” he said. “I’m done with this, dude.” 

The timberwolf sighed, an exhalation of air through his nostrils. He grumbled unhappily as he pushed himself off the ground and straightened. Carter sat up in bed, surprised. He hadn’t actually expected that to work. And if it was that simple, he was going to be pissed he hadn’t done it sooner. 

He watched the wolf warily. He had no idea what to expect here. No idea what Timber would look like. What his real name even was. It was nerve-wracking. Three months of silent communication with a strange wolf had given Carter anxiety and anger issues that he usually took out on Timber. He’d had many long conversations with Elizabeth and Joe over the last three months, but they only did so much to calm him down, to ease his tension. It didn’t help that something about Timber made Gordo uneasy, and Gordo wouldn’t explain what it was. 

They needed to have a real conversation. With words, not grunts. And Carter needed to see his face. His real one. 

He watched, completely unprepared for what he would see as the timberwolf shifted. 

The transformation took longer than it did for Carter to shift, and looked painful. Carter had no idea how long it had been since Timber stood on two legs, but it had obviously been a while. Bones cracked and reshaped, and a wolf’s whine turned into a man’s pained moan. Hair receded, paws became hands and feet, forelegs became arms. The hair was dark, and the body was built and strong. Carter couldn’t look away. 

Timber used the bed to support himself as he shifted, hand gripping one of the wooden posts with such strength that Carter heard the wood crack. That was when something came over him, and he was out of bed and at Timber’s side, supporting his weight. “Whoa, easy, big guy. You got it.” 

Timber put his hand on Carter’s shoulder, and the weight of it was warm and somehow oddly comforting. Carter didn’t spend too long analyzing it. He was distracted the minute Timber lifted his eyes - not the violet of an Omega, but a startling deep blue speckled with gray, a full moon and stars at midnight. Carter had the unique experience of having his breath taken away by a person’s beauty, and the more troubling experience of realizing that person was a man and he was maybe not as straight as he’d originally thought. 

When their eyes met, Carter’s heart stuttered and the wolf inside him  _ howled _ , and he thought,  _ Oh. So this is what my mom was talking about.  _

And then,  _ Well, shit. _

It all passed through his head in a second, and it all disappeared when Timber said his name. “Carter.”

His voice was as deep as his eyes, rough and raspy. It rolled down Carter’s spine and left him faintly disoriented. 

“What’s . . .” Carter stepped away when he was sure Timber could support himself, trying to get his breath back. He shook his head as if that would help him focus. “Your name. Tell me your name.” 

Timber had to think for a second, closing his eyes as the last of his shift rolled through him and he stretched his human muscles, flexing limbs that hadn’t been in this shape in a long time. He winced, leaning against Carter’s bed, and it only occurred to Carter then that he should find him a pair of pants. Carter tried to keep his eyes straight ahead and was only mildly successful - he stole just a glance, and then moved his eyes back up to Timber’s face, cheeks aflame. Timber was rubbing his forehead, trying to gather his senses. 

“My name . . .” he said, opening his eyes again. “Damon. My name is Damon.” He paused, and something shifted in his eyes that had a bad feeling crawling along Carter’s skin. He stiffened. 

Damon said slowly, “My name is Damon Livingstone.” 

Carter’s eyes widened. 

In two words, he summed up the situation quite nicely. 

“Oh, fuck.”

 

*

 

“Darling, you know the longer you deny this, the harder it’s going to get.” Elizabeth patted Carter’s shoulder sympathetically, her gaze soft. She smiled. “I know it’s difficult to come to terms with, sweetheart. But you must. For your own sake and his.” 

“I know, Mom.” Carter sighed. It was Sunday, which meant Sunday dinner, but since it was winter, they were having it inside. The Bennett house was made up for Christmas, garlands and tinsel hung from every banister, ribbons and bows tied around every available surface. A huge tree took up residence near the fireplace in the living room, decorated top to bottom with ornaments and strings of lights. Carter and his brothers and Ox and Gordo and Mark had spent hours turning the whole house into a winter wonderland from attic to basement while Elizabeth made batches upon batches of Christmas cookies. She had helped decorate the tree, handling the ornaments - some of them decades old, family heirlooms and childhood mementoes - with delicate care. And when it was time to put the star on top, Elizabeth did the honors, using a stepladder to reach the top. The house looked great and smelled even better with all the baking Elizabeth was doing, but none of it could make Carter feel any less anxious. He usually loved the holidays. They all did. 

Except this year, Carter was facing some long-hidden truths about himself while still trying to keep a handle on the Omega he was now, Mark was trying to do the same thing, Gordo was going through a crisis, Ox and Joe were trying to deal with the ever-growing number of Omegas that flocked to Ox, and Kelly and Robbie were . . . being Kelly and Robbie. They all had things they needed to deal with, and Carter didn’t want to burden any of them with his own shit, so he was keeping quiet about it. But it’s not like they couldn’t tell anyway. Especially his mother. 

It had been six months since Timber - Damon, Damon Livingstone - returned to human form. The first month after his shift had been thirty-one days of complete and utter shock, and then fear and paranoia at the fact that Robert Livingstone had another son and that son had become a part of the Bennett pack without them knowing. The second month had been full of questions, most of which Damon didn’t have the answers to. The third month had been Gordo disappearing for a while, trying to find his father with no luck. The fourth month had been him returning and holing up with Mark for weeks with hardly a word to anyone. The fifth month had begun the slow process of Gordo building a bridge towards his half-brother, and the sixth month had been a gradual adjustment among the whole pack. 

Through all of that time, Carter had been avoiding what he couldn’t seem to say out loud - it should’ve been easy, it should’ve been  _ so easy,  _ why wasn’t it? - and Damon had been acting the same as he did as a wolf: hovering around Carter, growling when anyone got too close to him, never straying too far from his shadow. It was even more disconcerting now that he was human. Now that he had a voice to speak with and a face to express with, Carter couldn’t avoid conversation with him. Though he tried his best. 

There had also been six months of painfully awkward not-quite-flirting and dancing around each other without ever seeming to find a rhythm to the steps. Mostly on Carter’s end - Damon, when he did flirt, was subtle and confident about it, smiling when he knew it would throw Carter off. But most of the time he didn’t even have to flirt. Just his voice could send a shiver down Carter’s spine, and just him close enough to touch made Carter’s body feel things he didn’t know what to do with. So Damon always made sure to stay close to him. 

Carter knew it was his fault, why they hadn’t progressed much past the way they’d been before Damon shifted, and that it would stay that way until he admitted his feelings. But something always stopped him. 

It was clear how Damon felt - it had been clear from the beginning, apparently, according to Elizabeth. 

“I knew from the moment he started following you,” she’d admitted to her son two weeks after Damon’s shift. “I’m surprised you didn’t.” 

“You’re really clueless sometimes,” Joe told him, dodging the punch Carter threw his way with a laugh. 

“Wow,” Ox said. “I didn’t think he’d look . . . like that. You’re  _ lucky,  _ Carter.” (Here Joe had growled, eyes flashing red, and Ox just grinned. Oddly, Carter had growled too. Then he’d gotten confused and excused himself to have a private freak-out in his room.) 

“It’s about time you found yours,” Uncle Mark said with his secret smile. 

“Do you really think he’s . . . you know,” Kelly whispered to him. “That’s huge, Carter. That’s really big. I’m so happy for you.” 

“Gordo has a half-brother?” Robbie had asked, eyes wide. “And he’s your mate? Whoa. This is crazy, even for us.” 

The shop boys made jokes. Jessie made innuendos while still somehow managing to be serious and sympathetic. And Gordo was too busy reeling from the fact that he had a brother to say much of anything. 

Damon was much the same a human as he was a wolf: quiet, reserved, a silent hulking presence always in Carter’s peripheral vision. Eyes almost constantly on him, watching where he went. At first, Carter found it creepy and unsettling, but then he started to notice himself watching Damon, too. And then he started to find it sort of comforting. 

But he knew it couldn’t go on like this forever. Something had to give, and soon. 

It hit him while they were eating dinner, Damon sitting close to Carter. Carter had turned his head to ask Kelly a question down the table, and he’d met Damon’s eyes instead. They were always open to him, dark and deep. Damon always looked at Carter like he wanted him to see everything. He looked at him like Carter was the only thing in his world.

And the word Carter had been trying to keep buried for six months whispered through his head, along his skin, in his heart. 

_ Mate.  _

He felt his cheeks heat, his lips parting as Carter’s heart sped up and his eyes widened. Damon’s thigh pressed against his, warm and solid underneath the table. Carter swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. 

“Mom, will you pass -  _ ooooooh. _ ” Kelly caught sight of what was happening and grinned. “Look how he’s  _ blushing. _ ” 

“Kelly,” Elizabeth said sternly. Carter barely heard them. In the back of his mind, he had the faint thought that he was going to beat up Kelly later, and Joe for the way he was snickering. But everything else was drowned out by the way Damon was looking at him. 

“Fuck me,” Gordo grumbled unhappily from his seat a few places down from Carter. 

 

*

Carter sat in the living room by the Christmas tree, a fire crackling in the hearth in front of him. He had a mug of his mother’s famous hot cocoa warming his hands, and the lights on the tree twinkled and bathed the room in a holiday glow. It was nice. It should’ve made him feel relaxed, happy and content. It had started to snow during dinner, too, and now there was a steadily growing blanket of white on the ground outside. They’d have a white Christmas this year. The holiday itself wasn’t for another three weeks - it was only the first week of December, but Elizabeth liked to get an early start. Carter usually agreed with her. He was the type to want to start decorating for Christmas the moment Thanksgiving ended. He’d been a bit distracted this year. They all had. 

Carter’s thoughts were a whirlwind, and he couldn’t pick out a single feeling to focus on. At this point, he could admit to himself that he wasn’t straight. He thought he might be like Ox - bisexual seemed like a good fit for Carter, because he still definitely liked girls. So that was out of the way. But then there was the fact that Damon was apparently his mate. That was huge. It was life-changing. Carter didn’t know if he was ready for that. Sure, he’d been kind of lonely watching Joe and Ox and Mark and Gordo be happy, and he wondered sometimes when it would happen for him. But now that it was here, it felt so sudden. He’d had no time to prepare for it, no matter that his mother and Joe and some of the others had been hinting at it ever since Damon attached himself to Carter. Back then, Carter didn’t want to hear it because the thought seemed so ridiculous. 

And then there was the fact that his apparent mate was Gordo’s half-brother. That seemed like the biggest thing to focus on. Carter hadn’t had a moment to ask Gordo how he felt about it, mostly because Gordo had been isolating himself while he tried to parse through his own feelings. He hadn’t seen Damon and Gordo talk much since the news broke. But now, all of a sudden, he wanted them to talk. He thought they needed to. 

Carter tensed when an awareness fell over him like a coat over his shoulders, and he turned to see Damon standing in the entryway to the living room, hands in his pockets. He was so big. He’d always been big, but Carter was still taken aback by how big he was as a human. Carter had never met a man who made him feel small before. And he was confused by the fact that he didn’t much mind the feeling, now that he’d experienced it. 

“Hi,” Damon said, voice husky and quiet. 

“Hi,” Carter said, trying to make his own voice seem deeper. The corner of Damon’s mouth quirked, and Carter blushed. He looked away and took a sip of his hot chocolate. He heard Damon move, and then the couch cushion next to him sank as the other man sat next to him. 

Everyone else had gone to bed, Mark and Gordo back to their house, Joe and Ox back in the old house. Elizabeth, Kelly and Robbie were asleep in their rooms upstairs. The Bennett house was quiet aside from the wind outside and the fire popping and crackling. Carter had been warm with the fire and the mug in his hands, but with Damon beside him, legs just barely touching, now he was even hotter. He gulped down the last few sips of his hot cocoa and set the mug aside, refusing to look at Damon, though he could feel Damon’s eyes on him. They were always on him, waiting for Carter to look back. 

“You okay?” Damon asked after a moment of silence, the air feeling thick between them. He always spoke like that - in short, clipped sentences. But Carter had discovered he didn’t really need words. At least not with him. 

“Maybe,” Carter said. “Working on it.” He wasn’t sure. He thought he might have been on his way to feeling somewhat settled with all this. He just had to take a bit longer to think about it. And he knew Damon would give him as long as he needed, and that . . . it meant something to Carter. 

“Okay,” Damon said, putting his hand on Carter’s knee. The touch was soft and warm, reassuring. Carter closed his eyes. “When you figure it out? Let me know.” 

Carter took a breath, opened his mouth to say something. He turned his head. 

Damon kissed him. 

It was gentle, almost shy, soft and sweet. Damon’s hands came up to cup his face, and Carter stopped breathing, his heart pounding in his chest. It was tender and careful. Carter felt goosebumps rise all over his body, from his head to his toes. Their lips brushed together. Carter closed his eyes, his hands clenching in Damon’s shirt. He’d never been kissed like this before. When he’d kissed other people, he’d always been the one in control. Girls sometimes wanted to be on top, and that was more than fine with him, but for the most part, Carter was the one driving them wild. Not the other way around. 

Damon kissed him like he was fragile, holding his face like a precious thing between his hands. His hands were so big, and his skin was warm against Carter’s. Carter’s head was spinning. Every single one of his nerve endings was concentrated in his lips where Damon kissed him, in his face where Damon touched him.

When Damon pulled back, Carter was breathless, wide-eyed, the world tilting around him. 

Well. They certainly couldn’t ignore it anymore, could they?

Damon looked at him. His face was blank, but his eyes said everything. “Goodnight, Carter.” He brushed his thumb over Carter’s lips, and then left him there, rising from the couch and leaving the room without looking back. 

Carter stayed frozen on the couch for what felt like the rest of the night, reeling from the kiss. His lips tingled, his stomach fluttering. He touched his fingers to his mouth briefly, head still buzzing. 

“Shit,” he whispered to the fire. 

 

*

“It’s been two weeks,” Kelly said to his brother as they wrestled in the woods, the rest of the pack training around them. “Are you finally gonna make your move?”

“Shut up,” Carter hissed, glancing over to where Ox and Damon were mock-fighting. “He can hear you.” He didn’t think he imagined the tiny smirk that flashed across Damon’s face before it was gone. 

Kelly grinned, tackling Carter and rolling on the ground with him. “Don’t be a pussy.”

“Did I just hear you curse?” Robbie said, coming up next to the brothers with a smile on his face. “Do my ears deceive me? Can Kelly Bennett actually say bad words?”

Kelly rolled his eyes and shoved Robbie, who laughed and caught his hand. Kelly blushed. 

“If he can, I certainly never want to hear him use  _ that _ word again,” Elizabeth said sternly, sparring with Jessie a few feet away. Kelly looked suitably cowed. 

“Sorry, Mom.” 

Carter grinned at his brother and wrestled him again, getting him in a headlock. “Kelly can’t curse. It’s illegal.”

“Fuck you,” Kelly growled, his shift rippling underneath his skin. Carter laughed and shifted along with his brother, bounding after him deeper into the woods. They both nipped at Joe’s heels as they passed him - Joe and Mark were apart from everyone else, talking quietly. Joe’s hand came down to pass over their fur as Kelly and Carter ran by him. 

Carter chased Kelly until he caught him, pinning him down to the ground with a wolfish grin.  _ Packbrothertetherlove  _ sang through the bonds. They both shifted again and fell flat on their backs in the snow, faces to the sky. The cold wouldn’t start to bother them for a while. 

“I’m serious, though,” Kelly said. “When are you gonna make your move?”

Carter sighed. 

In the last two weeks, Damon had been giving Carter more space than he ever had before, as if he knew he needed it to sort himself out. And he finally had. Carter had manned up and admitted to himself that he felt something for Damon. Something powerful and strong. It was impossible to ignore when all Carter could think about was getting Damon to kiss him again. He’d thought about what it would feel like to be with him. To mate. To have another wolf’s - another man’s - bite on his neck. Carter wanted it badly. He’d even jerked off to the thought of it, on a night when he’d found himself alone. Damon hadn’t been sleeping in Carter’s room anymore, but curled up outside his door in his wolf form. Carter knew he was outside that night when he touched himself, knew he’d be able to smell the arousal. But he didn’t care. That’s when Carter knew he had to do something. 

He’d been trying to make plans, but everything he came up with felt ridiculous. He didn’t know how to go about it. Suddenly all the confidence he’d had in the past with other people was gone. Damon made him nervous, like an infatuated teenager. He hated it. 

“Before Christmas,” he said, surprising Kelly. 

“Really? Good for you, man. Need any help?”

“With . . . making a move on Damon?”

“No, dumbass, with the planning.” 

“Do you even know anything about that?” Carter asked, eyebrows raised. Kelly frowned at the sky. 

“Not really.” He paused for a minute. “Actually you should probably ask Joe.” 

Carter laughed. “That’s what I thought. Thanks for offering, though. Means a lot.” 

“Always, bro. I may not know much about . . . that stuff, you know - ,” he made a face, and Carter laughed again, “but you’re still my brother, and I still want you and Damon to be happy.” 

“How are things going with Robbie?”

“We kissed,” Kelly said, face flushing madly. Carter grinned and lightly punched his brother’s arm. 

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? That’s awesome!” 

“It was recently. A few days ago.” Kelly gathered some snow from the ground and threw it at Carter. Carter molded it into a ball and threw it back at him.

“Did you like it?”

“He really liked it.”

“But did  _ you _ like it?”

“I . . . liked that he liked it. It was okay.” Kelly shrugged and looked pensively up at the sky. “I don’t know. I want to try it again.” 

“Need any tips?” Carter asked, wanting to help his brother. He knew Kelly was asexual, and he was trying his best to understand what that meant. Kelly wanted him to be happy, but Carter wouldn’t be happy until his brother was, too. And he deserved happiness with Robbie. 

“Maybe,” Kelly said, blushing again. He rolled away from Carter and stood, brushing snow from his skin. “Let’s go back. You should talk to Joe first.” 

“Don’t change the subject, young man.” Carter followed him up from the ground, wagging a finger at him. Kelly rolled his eyes.

“I’m only two years younger than you.” 

“Yeah, and I’m still your big brother.” Carter winked before he shifted and ran back into the woods, hearing Kelly’s shout behind him as he followed. When they returned to the clearing where the pack trained, Carter was surprised to find it mostly empty. Only Damon remained, laying in the center of the ground with his eyes closed. He lifted his head when Carter appeared. 

Kelly hesitated behind his brother, made a rumbling noise, then licked Carter’s ear and went on ahead back to the house. He growled softly at Damon as he passed, but Damon just watched him go impassively. 

_ Packfriendlovemate.  _ It whispered over Carter’s skin, swirling in circles in the air around them.  _ Matematemate.  _

They shifted at almost the same time, and then they faced each other in the clearing, both naked in the snow. Carter stared. Damon stared back. 

They were only a few feet apart. It took little effort for Carter to close the distance between them, grab Damon’s face, and kiss him. 

Damon was surprised. Carter could feel it in the way he stiffened. They were both caught off guard by the force and the intent Carter put behind the kiss. He meant this one. He was done playing games. Done avoiding this. He’d meant to wait, to put more thought into his first move, but the sight of Damon in front of him threw all his inhibitions out the window. They both wanted this. There was no point in tiptoeing around each other anymore. It hit Carter like a slap to the face, and he thought,  _ Okay. Okay. _

Damon was frozen until he felt the first silky brush of Carter’s tongue against his. Then he growled, his arms wrapping tight around Carter’s bare waist. Carter gasped as Damon lifted him up and backed him up against a tree, arms bracketing his head to keep him closed in. He pressed his body to Carter’s, trapping him. Carter kissed him hungrily, drunk with it, with kissing a man like this, kissing  _ Damon  _ like this. He nipped and bit and licked and sucked, using all the tricks he’d learned from hookups in the past, releasing all the tension he’d been carrying for months. He kissed Damon the way he’d imagined he would in his dreams lately. 

Carter liked the way Damon kept growling, low and deep as it curled down Carter’s spine. He liked the way Damon pressed their naked bodies together, and oh god, he  _ loved _ the way Damon grabbed his ass and squeezed, fingers digging in. 

There were hardly any words exchanged between them. Damon’s lips found Carter’s neck and bit down, sucking eagerly. Carter moaned in a way that surprised him, and Damon said, “My Carter.” 

God, did that turn him on. 

He wasn’t expecting the way it made his cock harden, the way it made a curl of pleasure shoot through his body. 

Wasn’t expecting himself to demand, “Jerk me off.”

He was getting harder the more Damon rubbed against him, and Damon’s own arousal was obvious. Carter couldn’t believe they were doing this here, now, naked in the middle of the snowy woods, but he figured it was as good a place and time as any. He thought it might’ve been part of the reason why he’d kissed Damon without thinking - planning it would’ve given him an excuse to keep waiting, to keep putting off the inevitable. 

Carter looked down between them at Damon’s dick as they rutted against each other, Carter’s back scraping against the rough bark of the tree. Damon was big. He didn’t know how this would work, the two of them together. He tried to imagine Damon’s cock inside him, and the full-body shudder that went through him made Damon kiss him again, more intensely this time. 

“Jerk me off, Damon,” Carter moaned, throwing his head back. “Do it.”

“Bossy,” Damon muttered, but he reached between them, gripping Carter’s cock in his warm hand with no hesitation. Just his touch was enough to make Carter see stars. He’d never been touched by a man like this before. Damon’s hands were rougher, bigger than any of the girls Carter had been with in the past. Much different from Carter’s own hand. 

Damon used his free hand to grab Carter’s face, pulling his head down so they were eye-level. His fingers were tight on Carter’s chin, but not enough to bruise. Carter moaned again, mouth opening. Damon was stroking his dick slowly, teasingly. Carter bit his lip and closed his eyes, wanting to lose himself in the moment. 

But Damon said, “No.” The tone of his voice made pre-come start to leak from Carter’s tip. Damon squeezed his chin and growled, “Look at me. Eyes on me.” 

“Fuck,” Carter whispered, trembling as he wrapped his legs around Damon’s waist. Damon gripped both of their cocks in hand at once. It was a little dry, but Damon had been leaking since he’d started kissing Carter, and Carter began to leak more as Damon kissed him and held him up against the tree with nothing but his body. Damon spread the pre-come around with his thumb, wetting both of them and jerking them off together in a steady rhythm. Carter rutted his hips into Damon’s grip, trying desperately to match the movement of his hand. As far as handjobs went, this might have been the best one he’d ever received. It had never been like this before, with anyone. 

They kept eye contact until Damon groaned and attached his mouth to Carter’s neck again, sucking harder this time. Carter knew he’d have a hickey there, but he couldn’t bring himself to care all that much. 

“Fuck, Damon,” he moaned as Damon jerked them off rough and hard. It was fast and dirty and Carter’s brain was slowly turning to mush as his wet cock pushed against Damon’s, the pressure driving him insane. He should’ve thought this through. All he’d wanted to do was kiss Damon, to let him know that Carter was serious and wanted something with him. To let him know where he stood. That he was ready to start something between them. He hadn’t anticipated this, but once it was started, he could do nothing to stop it. 

He knew they wouldn’t mate here, not yet. This was enough for now. But soon. Soon, soon, soon. 

_ Mate,  _ Carter’s heart sang, and Damon must have felt it through the bonds, because he growled and whispered, “My Carter,” again. 

Carter didn’t remember the exact moment when Damon had truly become pack, but he felt it now, strong and deep. Which meant the rest of the pack would be able to feel it, too. There would be no hiding what they’d done when he and Damon came out of the woods, but Carter didn’t have time to feel embarrassed or to think he should’ve done this differently. All he could think about now was the feeling coursing through him, and the toe-curling sensation that he was about to come by Damon’s hand, his thick cock pressed against Carter’s own. 

“I - ” He tried to warn Damon, but his words turned into another moan when Damon rubbed his thumb fast and hard over the head of Carter’s dripping cock, eyes burning into him, watching his face.

They came together, messily, shooting onto their stomachs and Damon’s hand. Damon covered Carter’s mouth when he moaned too loud, and Carter’s eyes fluttered shut, his whole body melting against the tree behind him. His back ached, and he was cold now, the snow finally affecting him, but none of it mattered. His orgasm pulsed through him as Damon milked him dry, stroking him slowly. Damon’s orgasm had been much more contained than Carter’s - he was quieter, burying his face in Carter’s shoulder and grunting, groaning low and shuddering when he came. Carter had the brief, hazy thought that he wanted to know what it looked like when Damon lost control. He wanted to be the one to make him lose control. 

“I am never . . .” Carter said, trying to get his breath back as his cock pulsed and his body thrummed. “Gonna hear the end of it from my brothers.” 

Damon smirked as he gently let Carter down from the tree, taking his hand. And then, in a casual, careless move that left Carter breathless and dizzy all over again, he cleaned up the come from their bodies with his mouth. He licked it from his fingers and then sank to his knees and kissed it from Carter’s skin, cleaning him up slowly, gently. He gathered the rest off his own stomach and put his fingers in his mouth again, dark eyes on Carter. 

If this was what the rest of his like was going to be like with Damon as his mate, Carter was going to be dead before he was thirty-five. 

They looked at each other for a weighted moment before Damon put an arm around Carter’s waist and pulled him against him, kissing him softly once more before he let him go.. 

“Glad you figured it out,” Damon murmured quietly when he pulled away, running his hand through Carter’s hair. 

“Yeah,” Carter whispered, his arms wrapping around Damon’s neck. “Me too.”

 

*

In the few days leading up to Christmas, Damon and Carter were sneaking off to hook up, finding stolen moments in bedrooms and hallways and corners of the house, reveling in the fact that they could touch each other now, that they could be together without reservations. As soon as they’d come out of the woods on the first day, the whole pack knew what they’d been doing, just like Carter knew they would. But none of them teased or jibed. Instead, there’d been green. Green all through the bonds, relief and happiness. They’d all had to deal with the tension and anxiety for the past nine months, and it was like a weight had been lifted from all of their shoulders. 

Only Gordo had been reluctant, and Carter understood why. Damon was his brother, and Gordo was sort of like a father figure to Carter. It was bound to be awkward. Carter had thought about talking to him about it, but he wasn’t sure what to say. 

It turned out, he didn’t have to talk about it, because two days before Christmas, Mark pulled his mate aside to talk quietly with him. Carter watched surreptitiously as Mark rubbed Gordo’s arms and kissed his forehead, and he watched as Gordo slowly melted and smiled. Then he looked away when Gordo and Mark started to make out, because that was his uncle. 

A few minutes later, Gordo came up to Carter and said, “I give you my blessing, or whatever,” and Carter grinned. Gordo rolled his eyes, but he hugged Carter back when Carter threw his arms around him. 

“Thank you,” Carter said, meaning it. He hadn’t even known he’d needed Gordo’s blessing, but when Gordo said the words, he felt something slide into place that made him feel lighter. “I love you, Gordo.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let me - ” Gordo cleared his throat and averted his eyes. “Let me talk to Damon before you guys . . . before anything happens.”

“Sure,” Carter said, stepping away and rubbing the back of his head. “Sure, sure. Go ahead.” He blushed. It would give him time to talk to Joe and Ox, anyway. Carter still wanted their advice about some things. 

Though it had only been a few days, he and Damon never wasted a moment, and during the quiet nights, they were learning each other slowly. Carter was shocked to find out that he was Damon’s first. They were each other’s firsts, because Carter had never been with a man before, and Damon had never been with anyone. It made Carter feel a little less nervous about the whole thing. He wasn’t insecure, per se, but he wanted everything to go right. He wanted Damon to be happy. Which was why he needed to talk to the Alphas. 

Carter was scared. Because he knew now that what he and Damon had was real. It was forever, and that terrified him, when he had enough time to think about it. He’d seen what Mark and Gordo had gone through. He’d seen what his brother and Ox had gone through. He’d seen what his mother had suffered when they lost Thomas. Having a mate was painful. It wouldn’t be easy. And yet, Carter still wanted to mate with Damon, to take his bite. 

He hadn’t given Damon the stone wolf yet, the one he’d kept stuffed in the back of his closet ever since his father had given it to him because Carter was sure he’d never find someone special enough to give it to. But he would put it in Damon’s hands. Soon. 

When Gordo pulled Damon aside to talk to him, Carter sought out Joe and Ox. He figured it was easier to talk to them both at the same time, but he hadn’t considered how awkward it might be. Of course they both knew what he wanted to talk about the minute he ushered them into his room, and Joe smirked while Ox gave Carter a knowing look. Carter sighed. 

“Look,” he said. “I don’t want to hear it. Please. I just need advice.” 

The Alphas looked at each other, holding hands where they sat on Carter’s bed. Carter leaned against the wall opposite, arms crossed. 

“I can’t believe my older brother is coming to me for sex advice,” Joe said, smiling. “I never even came to you when Ox and I mated.”

“Yeah, ‘cause we’d been gone for three years and you were kind of in a hurry.” Carter regretted bringing it up when Joe’s face tightened, and Ox put his arm around his shoulder, kissing his temple. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Joe said, trying to find his smile again. He leaned into Ox.

“What are you nervous about, exactly?” Ox asked. 

“The only experience I’ve had with men is when I kissed you,” Carter said, flashing a grin when Joe growled and his eyes glowed red for a brief moment. “So I’m kind of out of my depth here. I don’t want to mess it up.”

“Well, what have you done so far?” 

Carter blushed and looked at the ceiling. “Uh, we’ve - we’ve gotten each other off. Mostly handjobs but he blew me the other day, and I returned the favor yesterday.” And it had been just about the most amazing experience of his life. He couldn’t even imagine how much actually mating with Damon would blow his mind. 

Joe made a face. “So you want to mate . . . when?”

Carter bit his lip. He didn’t want to sound cheesy, but . . . “I was thinking Christmas.” He blushed. It was stupid. But Carter was a romantic at heart. He’d let it show briefly with some of the girls he’d been with, but he’d never been with someone he wanted to actually court before. The courting had also been going on in the last few days, Damon and Carter hunting for each other in the woods. Damon caught game and proudly presented it to Carter, who tried to catch even bigger game to impress him. Damon had disappeared into the woods and returned with a bouquet of flowers he’d picked himself. Carter was not a baker like his mother, but he’d spent hours in the kitchen making a loaf of his favorite winter pumpkin bread for Damon, refusing anyone’s help. The look on Damon’s face when Carter gave it to him nearly knocked him off his feet. Just because of some bread. When Damon gave him the flowers, Carter was blushing for an hour afterward, and Damon seemed utterly proud of himself. The flowers were sitting in a vase on Carter’s bookshelf. 

Ox smiled. “That’s really nice, Carter. I think it’s sweet.” 

“Christmas Eve is tomorrow,” Joe said, looking at his brother with a question in his eyes. “Are you really ready for this? To give him your wolf?”

He only had to think about it for a second. “Yes.” He would take it out of his closet tonight and wrap it up like a present, for Damon to open in private. 

Joe nodded, face softening. “Good.”

“And you want to know what it’s like? Sex with a man?” Ox asked the question so bluntly that Carter almost choked. But he nodded. 

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Don’t overthink it,” Joe suggested, turning his eyes to his mate. “When I mated with Ox, it felt . . . it was like the whole world shifted. Like an earthquake, but a good one.”

“Like a tornado,” Ox said softly, smiling at Joe. Carter wanted to roll his eyes, but he was so used to his brother and Ox being soft and gooey around him by now that teasing them had lost its fun. Now he wondered if he would start acting like that around Damon, if he hadn’t already. He hoped he wasn’t as obvious as his Alphas.

“Don’t freak out about it,” Joe said, tearing his gaze away from Ox with some difficulty. “Just do what comes naturally.” He smiled again. “And I’m really, really happy for you, Carter.”

“Fuck off,” Carter said lightly, trying not to become overwhelmed with the surge of emotions that overcame him then. “How am I supposed to do what comes naturally?”

“Do you want to top or bottom?” Ox asked, so blunt and forthright again that Carter was taken aback for a second time. He sputtered. 

“Jesus, I don’t know.”

“Liar,” Joe called him out, a glint in his eyes. “You totally do. You’ve thought about it.”

“Fine, whatever.” He mumbled, “I think I want to bottom.”

“Ha! My brother the bottom,” Joe sang. Carter glared. 

“Like you’re not,” he shot back.

Joe’s eyes narrowed. “Ox lets me top him whenever I want.” Ox sighed, face in his hands. 

“Oh, he  _ lets  _ you, does he?” Carter sneered. “Who’s really the bottom, then, huh? Still sounds like you.”

Eyes glared Alpha red, and Joe growled, though Carter could tell it wasn’t in total seriousness, because he was trying to fight off his grin. “Don’t make me hit you.”

“This conversation took a turn,” Ox said. “Joe. Can you give us a second?”

Joe looked suspiciously between the two of them, and then said to Ox, “You’re not gonna give him a demonstration, are you?”

“Aww. I love how you’re still jealous of the fact that I popped your mate’s gay cherry,” Carter said, unable to help himself. Joe glared at him and snapped his teeth. 

“Joe,” Ox said, and there was a bit of Alpha in his voice and in his eyes. And even though Joe was an Alpha too, he relented. 

“Fine,” he said, leaning forward to kiss Ox before he got up from the bed. “Don’t take too long.” As he left, he patted Carter’s shoulder and squeezed it with a smile, and all the words he didn’t need to say were in that gesture.

Carter smiled softly back, and Ox’s eyes stayed on Joe until he left the room, closing the door behind him. When he was gone, Carter looked at Ox again, shrugging helplessly. 

“I just want everything to be perfect,” he said. “For him and for me. And I don’t want to be bad at it or a disappointment.” 

“You won’t be,” Ox promised. “And everything  _ will  _ be perfect. Do you want to know what I did for Joe on our one-year anniversary?”

“Sure,” Carter said. Maybe it would help. 

“Roses,” Ox said with a reminiscent grin. “Roses and candles. I lit a whole room up and spread petals everywhere, on the floor and the bed.”

“Dude. That is sickeningly romantic.” But Carter didn’t hate the idea. Why not? He had nothing to lose.

“I know. Joe loved it, though. Almost cried. Don’t tell him I told you that,” Ox said, and Carter laughed. 

“So you think I should make it nice?”

“Maybe,” Ox said with a shrug. “It might help make you both more comfortable. It seems silly, but scenery is important sometimes.”

“Okay. I’ll try it.” He’d have to go out and get supplies, which meant he’d have to find time to sneak away from Damon so he could make it a surprise. 

“And as for the sex part, don’t worry. You’ll figure it out. Bottoming is pretty nice, if your partner is doing it right.” 

“What do you prefer?” Carter asked curiously. 

“I don’t really have much of a preference. And don’t tell Joe I said this, either, but you’re right. He likes to bottom more.”

“I knew it.”

“It is pretty fun when he’s on top, though,” Ox grinned. 

“Ugh. Okay. I think I’ve got it handled from here,” Carter said. “Thanks for your help, man. I appreciate it.” He felt a little bit better than he had before, and it helped. 

“Of course. I’ll always be here, anything you need.” Because he was the Alpha. He was Carter’s brother. Family. “Kelly told me once I’d have to talk about stuff like this with my pack, but I don’t know if I ever really believed him until now.”

“I’ll try not to make a habit of it.” Carter grinned as they both headed out of the room, and Ox laughed. “Can you help distract the pack and Damon? So I can get everything ready?”

“Absolutely. Now it’s your turn to get your gay cherry popped.”

Carter shoved him.

*

It was difficult to get Damon to leave Carter’s side, but it was ultimately Gordo who saved him. On Christmas Eve, Ox and Joe sprung a surprise trip to the Green Creek Holiday Light Show on the pack. Most of them took enthusiastically to the idea, but Damon was hesitant when Carter said he wasn’t joining them. 

“I’ve gotta get some last-minute shopping done,” he admitted sheepishly, smiling at the put-upon look his mother gave him. 

“Carter, I told you to get it done early, before the mad rush.”

“Yeah, I know, Ma, I was lazy. My fault.” Carter shrugged. “It’s just a few things, though. Won’t take me long. I can meet you guys at the light show.”

“That’s fine, right?” Joe asked, looking at his mother for approval. Elizabeth nodded, pulling Carter forward to kiss his forehead. 

“Wrapping paper and tape are in the hall closet.”

“Thanks.”

Damon pulled Carter aside as the rest of the pack got their coats on, preparing for a night in the cold. He looked almost concerned. 

“Need any help?” he asked. Carter shook his head, standing on his tiptoes (he loved the fact that he even had to do that) to kiss him. Damon wrapped his arms around Carter’s waist and half-lifted him off the ground, something he did almost every time he kissed Carter. Carter was always tempted to wrap his legs around Damon’s waist and let him carry him off to be alone somewhere, but he resisted. 

“I’ll meet you there,” Carter promised when he pulled away. 

“Okay.” Damon smiled and kissed the side of his mouth. “See you soon.”

He looked regretful as they left Carter behind, and Carter smiled. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve someone like Damon as his mate, but he was never going to take it for granted. Not for a moment. 

Gordo waited for Damon by the door, and he smiled at Carter before they left. Carter hadn’t asked what Gordo and Damon had talked about yesterday. He thought it wasn’t his business to know. Some things were just between brothers. He understood that better than anyone. 

Damon and Gordo didn’t have quite the relationship the Bennett brothers had, and they probably never would. But they had something, and it had room to grow. Carter thought the whole pack was going to be happy to watch it happen. 

As soon as the pack left, Carter waited until he listened to the cars pull out of the driveway and down the road. He threw his coat on, grabbed his wallet, and hurried to the only remaining car in the driveway. There was a florist in Green Creek where he’d get the flowers he needed, but he didn’t know where he was supposed to find candles. Maybe the florist would know. 

“I need 50 red roses,” Carter said when he barged into the florist shop, startling the girl at the front desk. “No wait, white.” Then he hesitated. “Never mind. Red.” 

“You sure?” the girl asked, raising an eyebrow with a smile. She hopped off the stool she’d been sitting on and walked out from behind the counter while Carter got his wallet out. 

“Yes. Red,” he said. “Can you do 50? Is that too big of an amount?”

The girl laughed. “50’s no problem. I’ll bundle them in bunches of 10 and put them in a special box.”

“Great, thank you.” Carter leaned against the counter as she disappeared somewhere in the jungle of flowers, and he tried to envision how he would set this up. If he had any leftover roses after he spread the petals everywhere, he’d put them in vases in between the candles. He didn’t know if he should get all the candles in the same size, all in the same color, or if he should switch it up. He had no idea what Damon would like, but he just wanted it to be special. He wanted them both to remember it. 

It took the girl a while to get his flowers, but that was fine. When she came back, her arms full of roses, the ridiculousness of what Carter was doing hit him. But it didn’t stop him from shelling out the money. As the cashier was placing the roses in a long black rectangular box, Carter asked, “Hey, do you know where I can get some good candles for cheap?”

“Down the street,” she said, nodding her head towards the window. “A little old woman runs a bath shop. Candles, bath bombs, salts, soaps, shampoos, she sells all that stuff for a good price.”

“You are the best.” Carter shot her a grin. “Thank you so much.”

“So who are you trying to impress?” The girl’s eyes were kind of wistful as she wrapped up the roses, and Carter gave her a soft smile. 

“My, uh . . . boyfriend.” If they could even call it that. They hadn’t put a word to it other than  _ mate,  _ but he couldn’t say that. 

“That is so sweet. I hope he loves it.”

“I hope so, too.” Carter really, really hoped so.

“That’ll be twenty-four dollars even, please.”

Carter’s eyebrows rose in shock. “Really? That’s a lot cheaper than I was expecting.”

“Bouquets usually come in a dozen, and they’re priced at $6 each. Individual flowers are just a dollar, but I charged you for four bouquets. It’s cheaper than paying for 50 single flowers.”

“Thank you. Seriously, you’re the best. If I ever need to buy more flowers I’ll be sure to come here.”

“I hope so.” The girl smiled at him as Carter handed her the cash and she rang him up. “You’ll have to stop back in and tell me how things went with your boyfriend. Good luck.”

“I will,” Carter said with a grin. He hefted the big black box and waved goodbye. “And thanks again. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas to you too, sir. Have a good holiday!”

“You too.” 

He put the box of flowers in the car before he walked down the street to the bath shop, where he spent far too much time debating over which kind of candles he should get. He had to make a quick decision when Damon and Kelly both texted him asking where he was, and in the end he went with the simplest option: plain white candles, enough to supply an army. He stopped back at the house to hide his purchases before he drove to the town square for the light show, where the pack was waiting for him with hot chocolates in hand. 

“Get everything you needed?” Damon asked when he wrapped his arm around Carter’s waist, fitting him comfortably against his side. Ox was trying to hide his grin, and Joe’s eyes were alight. Carter ignored them. 

“Yeah,” he said, leaning into his mate. He smiled up at him. “I did.”

 

*

 

Christmas dawned with a fresh falling of snow, and Green Creek glittered with it. Carter woke up beside Damon in his bed, pressed against his warm chest. His stomach fluttered with nerves, but he forced them down. He didn’t have to be nervous or scared. Everything was going to be fine. 

Damon rumbled sleepily as he woke, nuzzling into Carter’s neck. Carter smiled and tilted his head back as Damon’s teeth nipped lightly at his skin. He imagined taking the real bite later and shivered. 

“Morning,” Carter whispered. 

“Morning,” Damon whispered back. His hands explored Carter’s body greedily, but they were soft as they trailed over his skin. Carter knew they couldn’t take too long or Kelly would come looking for them - his brother was always the one who insisted they open presents as early as possible on Christmas morning. 

Still, maybe they had time to get off quickly before they had to join the others. 

But just as Damon’s hand snaked between his legs and Carter started to moan, Damon rolled away and off the bed, the corner of his mouth quirking in a mischievous smile. Carter narrowed his eyes at him. 

“I’m gonna kill you.”

Damon just quirked an eyebrow at him. 

Carter watched him as he pulled a sweater and cotton pants on and then leaned against the wall, waiting for Carter to do the same. They were in a stare-down for a minute until Carter sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine. But later, you’re mine.”

“Later,” Damon promised, his voice husky. 

Carter had to wait until he’d gotten his dick under control before he left the room. That the pack would be able to smell his arousal was bad enough. 

In the living room, Kelly and Robbie were already awake, sitting close to each other on the couch. They were whispering to each other, and Kelly was leaning into Robbie while Robbie played with Kelly’s hair. It was sweet. Carter felt his heart warm when he saw it, and he smiled. 

Kelly straightened when he noticed Carter and Damon, but he couldn’t hide the blush on his cheeks. “Finally you’re awake.”

“It’s only like, nine a.m.”

“Yeah, and I’ve been up since seven.”

“You know you could’ve woken me up. You usually always do.”

Kelly made a nonchalant gesture to Damon as if to explain, and then it was Carter’s turn to blush. Damon looked smug. 

“Where’s Mom?” Carter asked, settling himself down in front of the tree. Damon sat behind him, pulling Carter practically into his lap. Carter wanted to complain, but he didn’t bother. 

“Right here,” Elizabeth said as she came floating into the living room, looking well-rested. “Merry Christmas, my loves.”

“Merry Christmas, Mom. Joe and Ox awake yet?”

“Barely,” Joe said as he tugged Ox by the hand into the room. Ox was yawning and still tugging his shirt on over his head. They settled in the loveseat together, Ox leaning his head against Joe’s shoulder with his eyes closed. Joe smiled and twined their fingers together.

“Uncle Mark and Gordo?”

“They’ll be on their way soon, I’m sure,” Elizabeth said. “They have to exchange their own gifts first. Rico, Chris, Tanner, Jessie and Bambi are coming by later.”

Kelly groaned. “Do we have to wait to open presents?”

“It would be polite,” Elizabeth said as she sipped her morning coffee. 

“But Mom,” Kelly said, giving her puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”

Elizabeth gave in after a solid ninety seconds. “Oh, alright. Go ahead.” She smiled when Kelly dove for the presents under the tree, piles of them wrapped in red and green and silver paper, done up in bows and ribbons. Carter had no idea what to expect this year; he hadn’t asked for anything specific. He’d gotten Damon a couple things besides the stone wolf he was planning on giving him tonight. New sweaters, an iPod full of Carter’s favorite music - Damon was clueless about music, but Carter wanted to teach him - a pair of nice boots, a winter coat and hat. Damon didn’t have any possessions of his own, and since he’d shifted back to human he’d mostly been borrowing Thomas’s old clothes. Elizabeth and Gordo had bought him a few things, but Carter didn’t think it was enough. 

He’d gotten his mother new baking materials and a new cookbook she’d been eyeing, he got his brothers matching pairs of socks and sweaters, plus a couple of new books for Kelly, and a journal and a set of nice pens for Joe; a button-down shirt with a cherry pattern on it for Ox (because he couldn’t resist) and a new wallet; and movie tickets for Robbie, with the intent that he’d use them to ask Kelly on a date. For Mark and Gordo he’d gotten things they could use in their new home together, one single winter glove for Gordo (because Carter thought he was funny), and a beard-trimmer for Mark.

Carter was satisfied when everyone seemed happy with the gifts he gave them, and he was equally happy with his own presents. There were joke gifts from his brothers, but the rest of them were thoughtful, and Carter appreciated every single one. Even the jokes. 

He should’ve expected that Damon would’ve gone overboard. They were still technically courting, after all. Carter just hadn’t guessed that more than half of the presents under the tree - and there were a lot - were for him. 

And almost all of them were handmade, because apparently Damon had become a master craftsman behind Carter’s back. 

There was a knit scarf and a matching hat and mittens, each stitch carefully constructed in Carter’s favorite color. There were new socks, a new sweater, even a blanket. Carter was rendered speechless as he opened each gift, eyes wide. Damon just watched him, carefully measuring his reactions. 

The thing that took Carter’s breath away the most was a painting - a beautiful picture of a sky over mountains and a forest that was clearly meant to resemble Green Creek. One half of the sky was a sunset, and the other was a full moon and stars. Carter didn’t understand. He looked at Damon, unable to form words. 

“When . . .” His voice was quiet, and he realized everyone was staring at him, but he only looked at Damon. “When did you find time to do all this?” It was obvious that each gift had been made with care and attention to detail, and it meant more than Carter could ever say. This amount of work must have taken weeks, maybe even months. Even before . . . even before they’d kissed.

“While you were sleeping,” Damon said. Carter let out a breathy laugh. 

“Oh,” he said, because that was the only thing he could say. 

“I taught him how to knit and to paint. He’s a very fast learner,” Elizabeth piped up, her eyes warm as she looked between the two of them. “I only gave him a few quick pointers before he didn’t need my help anymore. I was impressed.”

“These are beautiful,” Carter said, looking down at the pile of treasures in his lap. “Damon, I . . .” He didn’t know what to say. He shook his head. When he looked up again, eyes wet, Damon was smiling just for him. He leaned forward and kissed Carter’s forehead. 

“Merry Christmas, my Carter,” he mumbled quietly. 

Carter needed to give him his stone wolf. Now. He didn’t want to wait anymore. He felt too choked, his heart too full, and he needed to do something about it. 

“Let’s clean all this paper up and go eat breakfast while we wait for Uncle Mark and Gordo to get here,” Kelly said, giving Carter the opportunity to be alone with his mate. “Then we can shift and go roll around in the snow.”

“I bet me and Ox can build a better snowman than you and Robbie can,” Joe challenged, which made Robbie grin. 

“Oh, you’re on.”

Carter tuned out the banter as he stood up, trying to gather all his things at once. Damon helped him pick up his gifts and carry them back to his bedroom. Carter didn’t say anything. He just closed the door and went to his dresser, where he’d put the box with his stone wolf. He’d taken it out of his closet last week and stared at it for a long time. Since his father first gave it to him, Carter hadn’t thought about it much, and it had sat gathering dust in his closet for years. Until now. 

When he turned back to Damon with the box in his hand, Damon didn’t seem to know what it was. Of course he wouldn’t. He was a bitten wolf, not a born one, and he’d never had an Alpha to teach him the ways of the pack. He was slowly learning, bit by bit, the longer he spent with the Bennetts and with Carter. Carter thought Ox might have tried to talk to Damon about this aspect of the wolves, or maybe Gordo had explained it. But even if Damon didn’t understand, Carter didn’t care. He just needed him to take it. 

He sat on the bed in front of Damon, offering him the box without a word. His heart was still stuck in his throat, his speech stolen from him. Damon smiled and accepted the box, handling it carefully, as if he knew it was valuable. 

Carter watched him open it, everything in him screaming for him to do something, to kiss Damon or ask him to mate right now or tell him he loved him. He loved him. 

But he just watched, lips trembling, as Damon opened the box to reveal the dark stone wolf inside. 

Damon ran his fingers over it, caressing it softly. He had a look of reverence on his face. Of wonder and awe. When he looked back up at Carter, the world was in his eyes. And all he said was, “Yes.”

Carter threw his arms around him. 

*

It was the longest day Carter had ever experienced. It was torture to have to sit through breakfast, and then to be outside in the snow with his family, and then to watch Christmas movies and exchange more gifts when the rest of the pack arrived at the Bennett house. All he wanted to do was be alone with Damon, but it was better to wait until tonight, when everyone was asleep. And he still needed to get his room set up. He’d sneak away when Elizabeth was preparing Christmas dinner, and he’d make sure she distracted Damon for him. 

When the time came, he managed to get everything ready without cluing Damon into his plans. Carter spread the rose petals and set up the candles, and then he made his bed and cleaned clothes off his floor. He straightened things on his shelves. He looked at the bed before he left the room, his stomach turning over with nerves. 

“I want this,” he whispered to himself. “I’m ready.”

“Carter?” There was a knock on his door. “Dinner’s almost ready. Mom wants you to help set the table.” It was Joe, waiting for him outside his door. Carter slipped out of his room without letting Joe peek past the door, and Joe looked at him, studying his face. Then he smiled. “You gave him your wolf, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Earlier today. He accepted it.” Carter still felt giddy with it. It felt like a dream.

Joe hugged him. Carter was surprised for a second, but he hugged his brother back tightly, closing his eyes. 

“I already told you I’m happy for you,” Joe said, his voice quiet. “But it’s more than that. I’m proud of you, Carter. For letting Damon in. For being who you are.”

The support from his brother and his Alpha meant more to him than he could say, and he tried not to get choked up when Joe said, “Dad would be proud of you too.”

“Yeah?” Carter sniffled and stepped back, clearing his throat. Joe smiled, eyes warm.

“Yeah. I think he’d be really, really happy you finally found your mate. We all are.”

“Thanks.” Carter looked towards the kitchen, where he could hear everyone talking as they got ready for dinner, and then back at his brother. “You think it’s right? We shouldn’t wait a few more weeks until we’ve been together longer?” He didn’t know why that popped into his head, but it occurred to him that he might be trying to rush things. The courting period was supposed to be much longer than the few days Damon and Carter had had together. But he was too impatient for tradition. He needed this too much. 

“No,” Joe said firmly, shaking his head. “Don’t wait. Look at Uncle Mark and Gordo. And look at me and Ox.” His eyes turned sad for a minute, and Carter felt old remnants of blue through the pack bonds. “Don’t wait.”

Carter took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay.”

“Everything’s gonna be fine, Carter. I promise.” His grin turned wicked. “And I promise you I will have plenty of teasing to do when it’s over. Payback.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Carter slung his arm around Joe’s shoulders and tugged him towards the kitchen, laughing. “I take back everything I said about you and Ox back then. Uncle Mark and Gordo are even worse.”

“What’s that?” Mark asked, hearing his name. 

“Nothing!” Carter grinned at Joe as he picked up plates of food from the counter and put them on the kitchen table. 

Damon sat next to him for the meal, as was customary now. They didn’t even try to put distance between each other, thighs pressed warmly together under the table. The pack laughed with each other as they shared old stories of Bennett family Christmases in the past. Kelly and Joe told Damon the story of the year Carter decided he was going to catch Santa Claus, so he set up a video camera in the living room. But he’d forgotten to charge the camera, and it died before midnight. 

The way Damon smiled at Carter then made Carter want to say fuck the food and drag Damon to his room. 

The meal felt like it lasted hours, and Carter was acutely aware of Damon’s leg pressed against his, of Damon’s hand on his thigh, of the warm body next to him. He ignored the fact that everyone in the room knew what was going on. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was Damon. His mate. 

He didn’t know if he was ever going to get used to thinking it, let alone saying it. Carter didn’t even think he’d said it out loud yet. 

When the night started to wind down, the fire dying and the lights dimmed, the world outside the windows dark, Carter felt like it was time. Mark and Gordo had gone back to their house. Joe and Ox were back in the old house. Kelly had tugged Robbie up to his room a while ago, and Elizabeth was yawning as she read a book on the couch in the living room. She was wearing the new robe Ox bought her, curled up with her feet underneath her. The book was one Gordo got her for Christmas. 

“We’re gonna turn in, Ma,” Carter said quietly as he twined his fingers through Damon’s, pulling him towards the living room. He bent and kissed his mother’s cheek. “Night. Merry Christmas.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart.” She smiled over Carter’s shoulder. “And goodnight, Damon. I hope you enjoyed your first Christmas with us. May it be the first of many.”

“Thank you,” Damon said, sounding sincere. “I . . . I like it here.” He blushed when he said the words, and Carter almost fell over. He thought it might’ve been the first time he’d ever seen Damon blush before. Damon was always turning  _ his _ cheeks red, but no matter what Carter did, he couldn’t get Damon to blush like he did. When Carter flirted or tried to seduce him, there was just a smirk, a gleam in his eyes, a confident look that drove Carter insane. 

Elizabeth’s smile grew wider. “I’m glad you like it here. And I sincerely hope you’ll stay for a long time.”

“I hope so,” Damon said, squeezing Carter’s hand. “I want to.”

“Good.” Elizabeth shut her book and stood up, breezing past them to go upstairs. “Sleep well, both of you.”

They watched her go, and when they heard her bedroom door shut upstairs, Carter turned to Damon, breath caught in his chest. His heart was beating fast, and he knew Damon could tell he was nervous. But he felt better when he caught the scent of Damon’s nerves, too. Carter wasn’t going to lose his courage. They’d come so far, and they could only go farther from here. 

Damon leaned in and kissed him, holding his face carefully. Carter’s hands went to Damon’s hair. 

“Bedroom,” he whispered as Damon kissed him deeply. “Now. Take me to the bedroom and get my fucking clothes off. I’ve waited long enough.”

He tended to do this, be bossy when they were fooling around, and it came out of nowhere, completely overruling his nerves the minute Damon started touching him. Damon grabbed him around the waist, picking him up and carrying him. He nipped at Carter’s bottom lip. 

“Carter,” he growled. “My Carter.”

“ _ Yes. _ ” Carter grinded against him, desperate now, pent up after hours of having to be patient. “Do you want to? Right now?” Of course he wanted to - it was obvious, Carter could feel it pressed against him - but Carter thought he should ask, just in case.

“Yes,” Damon said shortly, kissing him again and stealing his breath away. Carter tugged at his hair as Damon carried him to the bedroom, pushing the door open and kicking it closed with his foot behind them. 

“Shhh!” Carter shushed him against his lips, trying to get his shirt off. “Don’t wake anyone up.”

Damon growled, and it curled down Carter’s spine, making him moan. Usually, when Carter tried to take charge, Damon always growled like that, and it turned him on more. But sometimes, Damon liked to drag it out. He liked to make Carter beg. Carter wouldn’t ever say it, but he liked that best. 

Damon’s hands groped his ass as he pushed Carter up against the wall, pressing their bodies together hard, the way he knew Carter liked. They’d been slowly learning each other’s kinks in the last few days, and there was one thing Carter knew for certain - Damon had a  _ huge _ thing for his ass, and Carter had a thing for Damon practically smothering him with his body. And that Damon liked pleasing him. Giving him anything and everything he wanted.

Damon tore Carter’s clothes off quickly, but he wouldn’t let Carter do the same to him, keeping his arms locked above his head. Carter growled, and Damon growled right back, nipping at his neck. Carter’s skin tingled and he gasped when he thought of Damon biting him there, the mating mark permanently on his skin. 

Damon didn’t notice the carefully thought out details of Carter’s grand romantic plan until he had Carter beneath him on the bed in his underwear, and by that point, Carter had honestly forgotten too. It was the feeling of rose petals against their skin that brought it to their attention. 

There were petals scattered everywhere, all over the floor and the bed. Carter cursed himself in his head when he realized he hadn’t even lit the candles, so they were just sitting there uselessly. So much for romance.

Damon looked around the room, shirt off but his pants still on as he knelt over Carter. Carter admired his body, already hard and trying not to whine for Damon to touch him again. He wanted to know what he thought first. 

“Do you like it?” he asked, pulling Damon’s eyes back to him. The way Damon looked at him left him reeling. He didn’t feel worthy of it, didn’t deserve to be looked at like that, like he was the only thing that mattered, like he held up the world, like he put the stars in the sky. 

Damon reached down and cupped Carter’s cheek, brushing his thumb under his eye. “For me?” he said quietly. “This is for me?”

Carter nodded, lost in Damon’s eyes. His heart felt uncomfortably full to bursting. He didn’t know what to do with it. He didn’t think he’d ever get to feel this way in his life. 

Damon leaned down and kissed him, softer this time, tongue tracing his lips. 

“My Carter,” he whispered. “Mine.  _ Mine. _ ” 

And Carter arched into him, wrapped his arms around him and said, “I know, I know, you possessive dick. Yours.” But he loved it. He wanted to be Damon’s forever. 

Damon reached down between them, taking Carter’s cock in hand, pushing down his briefs. Carter spread his legs, inviting him in. He gasped as Damon kissed him and stroked him slowly. He knew they were going to go slow tonight. They both wanted to ease into it, to savor it, remember it. 

Damon stroked him leisurely, not to make him come, just wanting to make him feel good. The room was warm, and the bed was even softer because of the rose petals, brushing like velvet against Carter’s skin. Carter let Damon touch him for a while before he finally reached down to get Damon’s pants off, wanting to return the favor. He wanted Damon’s cock in his mouth, wanted to feel the weight of it on his tongue. He’d only done it a couple times before, but he thought he kept getting better at it. 

Damon kissed Carter softly. “Slow,” he said. Carter whined. He was embarrassed by it at first, but then Damon growled, so it didn’t last very long. 

“Can I at least suck you off?” he asked, begging. “Please?”

Damon kissed the side of his mouth and said, “Okay. Since you said please.” Carter rolled his eyes as Damon switched their positions so he was laying on the bed, Carter between his legs. 

Carter bent down, one hand around the base of Damon’s thick cock. Damon’s hand went to the back of Carter’s head, fingers curling in his hair. Carter opened his mouth and sucked just the tip, slowly moving until he had Damon all the way down to the back of his throat. He breathed through it and slowly moved back up again, dragging his tongue along the underside of Damon’s cock. Damon’s fingers tightened in his hair, and they were claws. Carter noticed he got like that when they were together - more of the wolf came out, mating instincts overpowering everything else. Carter loved it. He loved to try and make Damon lose control. 

Damon said his name as Carter worked his mouth on him, and Carter looked up at him through his lashes, lips stretched around his cock. Damon’s hand on the back of his head was a weight keeping him down, but Damon didn’t push, didn’t force. He was just there. 

Carter set the pace, going slow like Damon did, not trying to make him come just yet. Just wanting to give him pleasure. Damon’s breaths quickened the more he hardened in Carter’s mouth, and soon enough Carter could taste pre-come on his tongue. After another minute, he pulled off, wiping his mouth. Damon pulled him up by the arms and got on top of him again. 

“I got lube,” Carter breathed against Damon’s mouth, arms around his neck. “In the drawer.” Damon grunted and reached for it blindly, his other hand roving over Carter’s body slowly, back down to his cock. He found the lube and ripped the packet open, coating his fingers in it. Carter took a deep breath and spread his legs, closing his eyes. 

Damon brought his fingers down to Carter’s hole and rubbed it in slow circles, applying slight pressure that had Carter trembling. 

“Mine,” Damon bit into his lips again. “My Carter.”

He eased one finger in, very slowly, waiting for Carter to adjust. Since Carter had realized his feelings for Damon, since he’d realized where this was eventually going to go, he’d used toys on himself in private, practicing for when they would mate. It was before they kissed, before they’d really even touched, and afterwards, Carter felt confused and half-ashamed. But he was glad he’d done it now. It wasn’t a totally foreign feeling, having Damon’s finger inside him like this, but he still had to adjust. 

He kept kissing Damon, tongue in his mouth as he pushed down on his finger, rolling his hips. 

“Good?” Damon asked, watching him carefully for any signs of discomfort. 

“I want more,” Carter said, and whimpered when Damon added a second finger. The stretch that came with it was welcome, and it burned in a good way. Carter whispered, “Fuck, Damon, fuck.”

“I won’t ever hurt you.” Damon’s lips were against his heart. 

“I know,” Carter breathed out. 

Damon kept two fingers him him for a while, not touching his cock, instead thumbing Carter’s nipples in between sucking on them. He gave him hickeys on his neck and chest, holding him close, letting Carter fuck himself on his fingers. Damon just kept his hand there and Carter rolled his hips, thrusting and bearing down on his fingers, trying to push them deeper, whimpering again when Damon didn’t move. 

He said, “Please,” and “Give me another one.” When Damon added a third finger, Carter started fucking himself faster, toes curling as he threw his head back. 

When he tried to touch his cock, desperate for relief from the building pressure, Damon said, “No,” and grabbed his wrists in one hand, holding them above his head. Carter’s chest was flushed, the wolf close to the surface, the need to mate howling strong. He needed Damon’s cock in him soon, his bite on his neck. He couldn’t believe he’d held out on this for so long. Couldn’t believe he hadn’t admitted his feelings to himself sooner. 

“I need you inside me,” Carter whispered against Damon’s lips, looking into his eyes. 

Damon finally nodded, taking his fingers out of Carter. Carter felt empty without them inside him. He spread his legs a little wider as Damon poured lube on his cock, slicking himself up, settling between Carter’s legs. He paused, looking at Carter with dark eyes. 

“Yes?” he asked. “We’ll be mates. Forever.”

Carter nodded, his heart bursting in his chest again. 

“Do it,” he said. 

They kept eye contact as Damon pushed his tip into Carter slowly. He leaned in and kissed Carter gently, holding his face, treating him like something precious. He kept kissing him as he pushed farther in, and Carter moaned, reaching down to touch his cock again. Damon let him this time. Carter gripped himself in hand and squeezed so he wouldn’t come right away, though he was shaking. 

“It’s okay,” Damon said quietly, holding Carter to stop the trembling. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He paused when he was fully inside Carter, letting him get used to it. Carter didn’t know it would feel like this, didn’t know it would make him feel so  _ much.  _ He felt impossibly full with Damon’s thick cock in him, felt whole, felt complete, and he almost couldn’t take it. He didn’t want to cry, but it was close. It was a lot. He buried his face in Damon’s neck and held on tight as Damon reached down to rub around Carter’s rim, tracing his finger over where he was stretched around Damon’s cock. Carter shivered and nearly came right then, but he stopped himself. 

“Move,”  he said. “Move, Damon, please, I want to feel it.”

Damon did, going slow at first, making Carter gasp, until Carter begged, “Faster, harder,  _ make me feel it.” _

“Don’t want to hurt you,” Damon said through a growl as Carter started to fuck himself on his cock like he’d done with his fingers. 

Carter growled back, “You won’t.” 

With a groan, Damon took Carter’s ankles in hand and spread his legs up and apart, holding them high and open. Carter moaned loudly, forgetting to be quiet as Damon started to spear into him. He jerked himself off quick, not caring about waiting to come anymore. 

Except that Damon leaned down and bit his ear, growling, “No coming. I make you come. Only me.”

“Fuck,” Carter said through his teeth, but he listened, taking his hands away from his cock to drag his fingernails down Damon’s back instead, leaving red marks as Damon’s thick cock moved in and out of him, stretching him open. “Fuck yeah, that’s so good, Damon. Right there, just like that!” He was mouthy and loud and every time Damon growled, he had to come more, but he held it back. 

Damon let go of one of his legs to take his cock in hand again, and Carter wrapped the freed leg around his waist, shifting their angle a little bit. Then Damon hit his prostate and he nearly lost control right there, moaning in abandon. 

“My Carter,” Damon growled as he fucked him and dug his thumb into the slit of Carter’s cock. “My mate. My good boy.”

And  _ fuck,  _ that is not something Carter thought he would be into, but it worked for him. It  _ really  _ worked for him. 

“Let me bite you,” Carter said forcefully, his head and heart wild. Damon bared his neck right away. No hesitation. Carter licked the spot between his neck and shoulder, nosing along it as he continued to fuck himself on Damon’s cock and as Damon made slow, torturous circles with his thumb around the head of Carter’s heavily leaking cock. 

Carter closed his eyes and bit him. 

The whole world shifted and shook before it  _ settled,  _ and something in his heart felt complete. He felt like he was going to burst. There were storms and earthquakes, and then it was just . . . peaceful. For a minute, Carter thought of that Christmas song his mother loved. Silent Night. Everything around him was calm and bright. There were no other words for it. 

“Let me come, I need to come, Damon, I’m gonna come,” he babbled, blood in his mouth, blood on Damon’s neck as he licked it away. “Let me fucking come,  _ please _ .” Damon looked dazed from the bite, because he slowed down, Carter still moving as he fucked himself desperately. When Carter pulled Damon’s face to his and kissed him messily, Damon came back to life with more vigor, more intensity, his whole body thrumming. 

“ _ Mate, _ ” he growled, rubbing his thumb faster over the head of Carter’s dick. “Come. Let me see it.”

And Carter let go, shooting up onto his chest and Damon’s, sticky and messy between them. He didn’t think he’d ever come that hard in his life. Damon growled and milked him through it, not letting him go until the very last drop was released and Carter was just a limp thing beneath him, sweating and come-covered and exhausted. That was when Damon’s nose fell to Carter’s neck, and Carter said, “Do it, bite me, please.”

Damon did. His teeth sank into Carter’s skin, and Damon kissed the blood away, fucking him harder now. Carter didn’t have the energy to move anymore, so he just lay there, eyes closed as they rolled back in his head at the sensation of Damon’s bite. He ran his hands through the come on his chest and then dragged them down Damon’s chest, across his nipples, making a mess of them both. 

Damon growled low and deep, and then pulled out of Carter without warning. Carter whined at the loss of him, empty and aching.

“Shh,” Damon whispered as he kissed him, jerking himself off fast and quick over Carter’s stomach. 

Carter had never seen anyone come the way Damon did then, so many long, hot jets shooting onto his chest and belly, the farthest of it reaching his neck. He figured they were both extremely pent up, needing a big release. It made sense. Months of dancing around each other, of will-they-won’t-they, of waiting and waiting and wanting. It all lead to this. 

Carter thought Damon was done coming, but then Damon squeezed his cock, groaned, and came again, painting Carter’s abdomen in white. Carter felt warm. He had the filthy thought that he wished all of it was inside him, filling him up, but that was for another time. 

When Damon was finally done, he collected a thick amount of come on his fingers and dragged it down to Carter’s loose, stretched hole to push it inside of him. Carter shivered, moaning brokenly. Damon watched him with blown-out eyes as he dragged his fingers over Carter’s thighs. 

Damon was beautiful. And from the way Damon looked at him, Carter knew he thought he was beautiful, too. They belonged to each other now, mates and more. 

For a long, long time afterward, they just lay there, messy and spent, staring at each other. They had to clean up before they slept, or they’d regret it in the morning. And in the morning, they would face the pack as mates. 

“Shower?” Carter asked quietly after a while. Damon nodded, kissing his forehead. They were as quiet as they could be as they crept to the bathroom down the hall. Damon took care of Carter under the spray, washing him, kissing him gently. 

Carter didn’t know he’d love feeling cared for like this. He didn’t know he’d love a lot of things about Damon when the timberwolf first attached himself to Carter’s side and refused to let go. 

But Carter could get used to it. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> merry christmas a day late! (hence also why i wanted to finish this fic asap and post it because i started writing it like a week before christmas, then the holiday passed and i was like well shit if u still want it to be a christmas fic u gotta post it soon!!!!) 
> 
> promise i will post something with better writing soon
> 
> also i feel like i end literally all of my fics with " x or y could get used to it" or some shit like that irhwiefnsdk call me out if i do i want to be a better writer than that


End file.
